Together, We Survive
by TheFableAmongUs
Summary: My own version of what happened throughout season two of the walking dead. What happens if Christa doesn't go missing, and her and Clementine both carry on to Wellington together? Rated T for now because due to language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - Hey guys! I got some inspiration from A Writer With Mixed Interests and Heidipoo's absolutely brilliant joint written fanfic called 'Our Yearlong Struggle' and decided to write this. I hope you all enjoy, I'd like to know what you guys think of it!

Sorry for the long wait on my Bonnista fanfic, I've just lost a little motivation for writing it at the moment.

Also, I do not own TWDG or any of the characters. Also a good chunk of the lines are from the game, so they aren't mine either.

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><p><span>Chapter One - Tending to a Fire<span>

They had been walking non-stop for hours. The heavy rain had recently stopped, but the air was cold and damp, causing the two people to shiver violently as they trekked forward. Clementine lagged behind, Christa leading them both ahead as they meandered through the tall trees and surrounding bushes. It was just the two of them, as it had been for well over a year now.

The eleven year old girl had been close to Christa since they met, but of course, after the death of Omid, which Christa blamed mostly on Clementine, their friendship was strained to say the least. The older woman would rarely start a conversation with her, and the majority of the time was hostile and sharp towards her. Clementine had learnt to accept that Christa didn't like her so much, as the young girl knew that if she had kept her gun with her at all times then Omid would probably still be here with them.

The two carried on forward for another hour or so, the sun beginning to set as the sky grew darker every passing minute. They both hadn't spoken to each other for at least half an hour, mainly because Christa had snapped back in response to Clementine every time the girl tried to talk to her.

Clementine let out a tired yawn, her eyelids drooping as she continued to drag her feet, following close behind the quiet woman. She knew that they would need to stop and rest for the night soon, but was well aware that Christa would not be as eager to do that. As the girl knew, nearly every night the other woman would cry herself to sleep thinking about the loss of Omid and her baby, or would stay up half the night and have barely any energy in the morning to move on.

"Christa, I- I think we should find somewhere to rest for the night. It's getting dark." She hurriedly caught up with Christa, who didn't even turn to acknowledge her presence. The other woman just let out a sigh, stopping in her tracks. Clementine glanced up at her wearily, a concerned frown on her face as she could see the dark circles around Christa's eyes. She clearly hadn't slept well at all the previous night, which wasn't surprising.

Christa nodded her head slowly, her hand absent-mindedly running along the spear she had crafted a few nights ago. She answered emotionlessly, "Yeah, you're right. Let's find somewhere to start a fire." Clementine nodded in response, and the two continued walking on. About another ten minutes later, Clementine pointed over to a log which was surrounded by a few trees. It was pretty secluded, and they couldn't spot any walkers lurking about nearby.

"What about here?" The young girl suggested, waiting for Christa to decide. She was always on edge around the young woman, because she didn't know when she was going to suddenly snap at her for doing the littlest of things. She could admit that she was slightly afraid of her.

The brunette woman trudged forwards, scanning the area for any signs of walkers or scavengers. Once satisfied, she spoke up quietly, "Yeah, this'll do." Clementine sighed in relief, shrugging her backpack off of her aching shoulders and dropping it gently beside the log. She sat herself down on the log, watching as Christa picked up some wood that was scattered around the area, stacking it to make a fire.

The older of the two let out a frustrated groan, "This wood might be too wet to burn." She knelt down beside the pile, inspecting the wood that was stacked together. She turned to look up at Clementine, "Pass me your lighter?" Clem nodded, reaching down and unzipping her bag, grabbing hold of the item. She paused for a moment, peering at the stickers on her lighter. It reminded her of Ben, as he had given her the stickers for her walkie talkie and she had used the left over ones for the lighter she had found a few months back.

She shook the thoughts of Ben out of her head, also grabbing hold of a scrap of paper which could be used to light the fire with. Passing both items to Christa, she shivered as a cold breeze blew past. Christa lit the fire, though it was only a small one, barely staying alight. The woman let out another sigh, offering the lighter and paper back to Clem. She seemed to be sighing like that a lot lately, and it saddened Clementine. She wished that they could be happy for a little while.

Before Clementine could ask her how she was feeling, Christa got to her feet again, taking ahold of her spear and muttering, "I'll be back in a little while, going to find us something to eat." Clem just nodded, her stomach rumbling at the mention of food. They both hadn't eaten for almost a day, and she had only registered how hungry she was. Christa wandered off deeper into the woods, leaving Clementine to look after the fire.

The sky was now pitch black, and the temperature was getting colder as the night went on. Clementine rubbed her hands together near the fire, attempting to warm herself up a little. The silence around her was unnerving, and it made her slightly uncomfortable. She placed her pistol down beside her, keeping an eye out for anything that could stumble out of the bushes that were surrounding her.

After only a few minutes, her eyelids began to feel heavy with sleep again, and she started to drift in and out of sleep. She tried to stay awake, knowing that anything could happen if she wasn't keeping a lookout, especially as she was all alone for the time being. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the over-powering urge to close her eyes and get some sleep.

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><p>Clementine jumped as she felt something shake her shoulder. She opened her eyes groggily, her unfocused gaze returned by Christa's slightly cold stare. The woman stood above her had her hands on her slim waist as she shook her head in irritation, "Damn it, Clem. You mustn't fall asleep whilst alone. You don't know what might happen." Her voice was harsh and scolding.<p>

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Clementine mumbled, bowing her head, feeling ashamed.

Christa shook her head, kneeling back down beside the fire. She had started to cook some sort of weasel, it looked like, and although Clementine was starving, she felt sorry for the poor animal. Christa collapsed down on the other end of the log, keeping her distance from the young girl who was eying her worriedly. She had been acting exactly like this since Omid had passed away, and the eleven year old didn't know when she would finally let go of her past and move on.

The silence was unsettling, so Clementine piped up from where she sat, "Are you okay?"

The question was ignored, as Christa just gazed into the small flames of the fire which crackled quietly ever so often. Clementine wouldn't give up trying to get through to her though, as she continued, "Christa. Talk to me." The young girl's eyes shifted from Christa's face to her abdomen, which was not so long ago swollen and carrying her stillborn son.

It caused a lump to appear in Clementine's throat, as she remembered how distraught Christa had been after hours of agonising labour, to find out she had lost the child she and Omid were looking forward to raise together. Of course, she would have had to deal with raising the child by herself, but Clem was determined to help out as much as she could, only to find out that the baby hadn't made it. He must have died only moments before birth, Christa having to shoot him before he could reanimate.

Christa sat motionless for a few moments, before lowering her head and squeezing her eyes shut as she let out a deep sigh, strands of hair coming loose and falling in front of her face. She tucked the strands of hair behind her ear, opening her eyes and getting to her feet once again, picking up her spear and moving towards the fire, prodding the wood with the weapon.

She changed the subject, "This'll never work." Her voice was weak and empty. "Look at this.. it's pathetic." She commented, narrowing her eyes at the small flames that were beginning to diminish. "The wood's too wet to burn." She continued to mumble about how useless the fire was, Clementine watching her with her hands clasped together.

"What else can we do?"

The brunette woman replied, not looking away as she continued to keep the fire going, "Find something that'll burn, maybe. I dunno. Won't be easy in the dark and in the rain." By the sound of things, Christa had already given up. Clementine needed to try and keep positive, for the both of them, if they were going to survive.

She stayed quiet though, Christa getting to her feet and folding her arms, her tone serious. "You should be doing this, not me. Tending a fire so you can cook and stay warm.. it's something you have to be able to do, Clementine. Otherwise.." She trailed off, glancing up at the girl with a frown, before closing her eyes again and looking down at the ground.

Clementine shrugged her shoulders, pausing for a second. "We need to find a group. People we can trust. We've been on our own for too long." As much as Christa knew deep down that Clementine was right, she shook her head, unable to agree after all they had been through.

"Trust?" She scoffed, "You think you can trust someone out here? Not now. Not anymore." Her eyes darkened as she clenched her fists. Clem looked up at her with a soft expression, before looking away. Maybe Christa was right, but she was sure that not everyone was untrustworthy around here, maybe it would be safer to find a group that could protect them and provide them with enough food to survive.

A gust of wind blew past, causing the young girl to hunch over, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to keep warm. "I'm freezing." Clementine uttered through gritted teeth, and Christa looked back up at her.

"You think this is bad? Wait 'til we get up to Wellington, then talk to me about cold." She let out a growl of annoyance as the fire failed to improve, "If we make it." She added under her breath, and Clementine eyes widened as her body shook in the cold, goosebumps covering her skin.

Christa got off of her knees, pacing around the fire, "We still have a couple hard months ahead of us." She peered up at the sky, knuckling her forehead as she continued speaking, "This rain will turn to sleet, then ice, then snow. It won't be easy."

"It'll be better there, right?" Clementine asked with optimism.

"Safer, maybe. So they say. But I don't know."

The younger of the two smiled determinedly, "It has to be, I know it will." She nodded her head firmly.

Christa sighed, "We'll see, we just need to keep moving north." She went back to prodding the fire again with her spear, an unhappy expression fixed onto her face. The two sat in silence for a minute or so, Christa poking around the fire whilst Clementine fiddled with her hands, sat on the log.

"I miss Lee." She confessed as she stared down at her hands, her eyes starting to become teary. She didn't let herself cry, as she knew she had to be strong for him. Just like he'd want her to be.

Christa nodded her head. "I'm sure you do." Clementine immediately felt bad for not saying she missed Omid.

"I also.. wish Omid was here." As soon as his name left her lips, Christa's whole body tensed up, and she glared fiercely at Clementine. Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything. Christa's expression changed from anger to pained as she pulled herself to her feet.

Her voice was hostile and bitter, "I'm going to look for more wood." She took hold of her spear, and began to walk off again, calling over her shoulder, "You just keep the fire lit.. and don't fall asleep this time."

Clementine gazed after Christa, watching as her form slowly disappeared through the trees. She regretted mentioning Omid, but they needed to talk about it together sometime, otherwise nothing was going to change between them both. Her eyes drifted over to the weasel that was cooking slowly on the fire, realising that it was possibly going to take until morning to be fully cooked. Her stomach began to grumble again, louder this time, and she sighed in disappointment.

She turned to glance down at her backpack, hoping to somehow improve the fire. She got to her feet slowly, grabbing her backpack and unzipping it quietly. Her eyes automatically scanned over the photo of Lee, and it made her heart clench painfully. Clem took hold of it, before quickly placing it back into the backpack. No matter how desperate it would ever become, she would never burn it. It was one of the only things she had left to treasure, and it meant a great deal to her.

She then slowly lifted out a drawing she had done a couple of years back, when they were staying at the motel. It was of Duck, Katjaa and Kenny. That also brought back a lot of painful memories, so she rapidly tucked it back where she took it out from.

Finally picking out the lighter again, she closed her backpack, dropping it back down beside the log she had been sitting upon. She looked up, and sagged her shoulders as she realised the fire had gone out. Clementine began to search around cautiously, looking for any other items that she was more.. willing to burn. Kneeling down by the fire, she noticed a discarded piece of wood that Christa hadn't spotted, and grabbed hold of it, placing it on top of the stack of sticks that had already been burning.

She raised her lighter, pulling out the scrap bit of paper that Christa had used earlier, and lit the paper with the lighter. Leaning down, she dropped the burning scrap of paper onto the logs which were slowly catching fire again. Smoke began to rise as the flames grew stronger, and Clementine smiled in success, crossing her legs as she sat beside the fire, keeping warm.

"It'll have to do for now. I'm sure Christa will be back with more wood soon." She reassured herself, wrapping her arms back around her small body. She used to love winter when she was younger, she remembered her parents letting her friends come over. They would have snowball fights in her backyard, and then all run on inside to have a mug of her mother's special hot chocolate after.

Clementine sighed sadly, trying to put those memories at the back of her mind. She despised winter now, since she and Christa hadn't been able to find suitable shelter for the past weeks, and they could barely find anything to catch and eat this time of year. It was getting colder as the days went on, and it was getting harder for them to survive.

She picked up a twig and began to prod the fire with it, when she heard the sound of yelling in the distance. She immediately dropped the twig, her eyes widening as she rushed over to the log she had been sat on, taking hold of her pistol and loading it. Her breathing quickened as the noises were getting louder, and she wondered if Christa might be in trouble.

Cautiously moving in the direction of the shouts, she kept herself hidden alongside the towering trees. She walked a few metres ahead, but stopped dead in her tracks when she came across a clearing in the woods, and a quiet gasp escaped her lips at the sight in front of her. Christa was surrounded by three intimidating men, who were pointing their weapons at her and demanding for her to speak.

Christa backed up, fear in her dark brown eyes as one of the men snarled at her, "Where's the rest of your group?"

The woman stammered in response, dropping her wooden spear to the ground as she raised her hands up in surrender, "I-I'm by myself.." The man who was closest to her edged closer, cocking his pistol towards her threateningly.

He snapped, "Bullshit!" His gun was now aimed between her eyes, and Clementine began to panic.

"She's lyin'.." said another one of the men, who was carrying a long sharp spear.

The third man hissed coldly, also raising his pistol to her face, "Cut the shit, lady!

"It's just me!" Clementine heard Christa protest unconvincingly, and Clementine knew they didn't believe her one bit. They continued to shout as they moved closer to her, and the young girl thought fast, grabbing a small rock from the ground, and throwing it at one of the scavengers, the rock surprisingly hitting him square in the face, which knocked him off guard.

"Christa, RUN!" Clementine yelled out, and the woman was about to sprint off out of sight, when another one of the men grabbed hold of her arm roughly, dragging her towards him.

"You ain't going anywhere," He sneered, and the scavenger who had been hit in the face by the rock spotted Clementine crouched behind the bushes nearby. He raised his spear, stabbing it straight into the back of Christa's leg, causing her to yelp out in pain, falling to her knees.

"Lying bitch!" One of them shouted into her face, and Christa looked up, noticing Clementine who was watching in horror.

"Clementine, run!" She shouted towards the younger girl, but Clementine wasn't going to leave her friend to die after all of this. She watched as the man who had injured Christa stormed towards her.

Clementine raised her pistol out in front of her, shooting him in the head. His body collapsed to the floor in a crumpled heap, and the two other men were distracted as their eyes were glued to the sight of his death. Christa took the chance to grab hold of her wooden spear, jabbing it straight into one of the men's chests, piercing through his heart. He also fell to the ground, lifeless.

The last of the scavengers jaw dropped as his eyes shifted from the woman to the young girl. He didn't even hesitate, sprinting away as he feared for the safety of his own life. Christa dropped to the ground, groaning in pain as blood dripped down the back of her leg. Clementine shot the man who laid lifeless on the ground beside Christa, so that he wouldn't reanimate.

She then rushed over to her aid, kneeling down beside the woman and placing a soft hand on her shoulder. She whispered with concern, "Christa, are you alright?"

The woman winced as she tried to get to her feet, the pain shooting through her leg as she put pressure onto it. Her brown eyes met with Clementine's worried hazel ones, and she offered the girl a weak but reassuring nod.

"I'm fine, Clementine. I'm fine." She replied, panting heavily. "Let's just get out of here, the noise must've attracted walkers. And we don't want that asshole to come back with more of his group." Clementine wrapped an arm around the woman's waist, helping her to her feet. The older of the two had to lean against the other for support, but Clem didn't mind.

Christa grabbed hold of the pistol which one of the men had been carrying, shoving it inside of her hoodie pocket.

"Okay, but what about the weasel?" The kid spoke up questioningly, as the two began to head out.

Christa shook her head, "We'll have to find something else. Come on." Her tone was back to it's usual bitterness, and Clementine nodded her head, continuing to support the weight of older woman as they slowly ventured onwards.

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><p>AN - I wrote this a few months back, I hope it's alright. I'd love to receive some feedback from this, and whether I should carry on with it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - Thank you to everyone who has taken time to start reading this, and thank you to **TheBigBadWolf1 **and **A Writer With Mixed Interests **for your reviews. It really means a lot knowing that some people appreciate and enjoy reading my work. :)

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><p><span>Chapter Two - A Stroll In The Woods<span>

The two had been on foot for a few hours, the sun beginning to rise as they carried on moving. Clem had no idea where they were headed, and she was pretty sure Christa was clueless too, although she didn't say anything and determinedly lead the way, still supported by Clementine.

The pain in her leg was getting much worse, beads of sweat formed across the older woman's forehead, and her movement got slower and slower as she limped on. Clementine hoped that the wound wouldn't get infected, otherwise.. She didn't want to think about what could happen, squeezing her eyes shut for a split second.

After a little while, they made it to the edge of the woods. There was a river that separated the woods from a large stretch of land, and both Clementine and Christa glanced over the other side, the latter breathing heavily as the pain intensified. The young girl turned her attention back to the woman next to her, "Do you want to sit down for a bit?" She let out a yawn, as they both had barely gotten any sleep for two days now.

Christa bit her lip as she thought for a moment, before huffing, "We need to get across this river."

The other female shrugged her shoulders, her expression concerned, "We should rest up before we cross it. You don't look too good." Clementine was right, Christa barely had enough energy to support her own weight, and seemed light-headed and a little dazed. But the older woman straightened up as best as she could, frowning as she looked back down at Clementine.

"Just do what I say, okay?! I said, I'm fine." Christa snapped angrily, and Clementine could see the slight apologetic look in the woman's eyes before they turned back to their usual cold glare.

Clem just looked away, hurt clearly evident in her voice, "Okay."

Christa badly wanted to apologise, but she couldn't stop the memory of Omid's death slipping into her mind like always, which always prevented her from saying anything. Christa blamed Clementine for it, and as much as she knew she had to raise this girl and take responsibility of her, part of her couldn't even bare to stay with the girl anymore.

Clementine's arms fell from around the other woman's waist, as she made her way over to the river. The brunette woman trudged after her, finding it difficult to stay upright. She knew that she didn't deserve to have Clementine helping her, but the agonising pain was too much for her.

She croaked out, "Clem, I need-" The young girl turned back to her, and slowly made her way over and helped walk the woman over to the edge of the river without complaint.

They stood at the edge of the river bank, Christa scanning the surroundings for any signs of walkers or anybody who could be watching them. From what they could tell, the water didn't seem too deep at all, and it wasn't that far to cross. Running a hand through her tangled hair, Christa observed, "It doesn't seem too risky. But be on your guard, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves either."

Clementine nodded her head in understanding, "Got it." Her gaze lowered to Christa's injured leg, and wondered if she would be able to cross easily enough without any support.

Christa seemed to notice her stare, "I can manage. Let me go first, you cover me as I cross and I'll do the same for you." The woman steadied herself before edging closer to the river, her boots making contact with the cold water and she shivered as she could feel the dampness soak through. Clementine pulled out her gun, her eyes focused on everything around them.

The woman continued to step deeper into the water, grunting quietly as she tried to control her ragged breath. She was almost up to her waist in the river, shivering as the water soaked through her clothes. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to reach the other side of the river, using her spear to help pull herself out and onto the bank on the opposite side, her hands immediately clutching her wounded leg as she bit back a cry of pain.

"Go ahead Clem," Christa called over to her after she recollected herself. Clementine slipped her pistol into the waistband of her jeans, before reluctantly getting into the river, the cold water causing her teeth to chatter noisily as she began to swim across the water. Christa had her spear at her side, and held the pistol she now owned as she covered Clem.

Clementine reached the other side in no time, but couldn't find enough upper body strength to lift herself out of the water. Christa sighed, before leaning down and stretching her arm out for the girl to grab onto. Clementine took hold of her hand and was swiftly pulled out of the flowing river.

"Right," Christa pocketed the gun and raised her spear in her other hand. "Let's keep moving, try to keep an eye out for any abandoned buildings and such."

"Do you need help walking again?" Clementine asked as her teeth chattered.

Christa shook her head firmly, "No, I don't. We'd better get a move on, we need to find somewhere to rest." Clementine nodded and they both turned around, staring up at a wooden staircase resting against the cliff edge, the bottom half of it non-existent.

The eleven year old watched as Christa slumped her shoulders defeatedly, and asked, "Maybe there's a way around?" They took a moment to glance up at the rocky stretch of cliff around them.

The tall woman shook her head, "It would probably be nightfall by the time we've travelled around, I'll boost you up onto that wooden staircase." Clementine didn't bother to put up a fight, although she knew that it was possibly going to be quite painful for Christa, as she had to lift Clementine's weight which would put pressure on her wounded leg. However, arguing back would result in Christa being pissed off.

Christa threw up her spear, and it landed with a clatter onto the platform.

"Sure." Clem answered half-heartedly, as Christa got down onto her knee slowly, motioning for the other girl to step up onto her uninjured leg. She obliged, balancing one of her legs on Christa's knee as delicately as she could. She felt Christa's strong grip on her small waist as she was lifted above the woman's head. Clementine could hear Christa's quiet hisses of pain, and quickly reached her arms out, grabbing onto the wooden platform as she pulled herself onto it.

The woman below got to her feet carefully, instructing, "Alright, see you if you can pull me up." Clementine leant as far as she could over the edge of the wooden platform which seemed to be swaying slightly. She willed it not to collapse, as the noise would draw walkers but could also injure the two of them. Christa let out a sigh before raising her hands high above her head, grabbing hold of Clementine's soft small ones, the younger of the two beginning to lift the woman onto the platform.

Due to the lack of sleep and energy, Clementine felt her grip loosen on her friend's hands. She struggled to continue to pull her up, but luckily Christa had managed to grab onto the edge of the platform, lifting her body up just before Clementine would've dropped her.

"I'm so sorry!" Clementine rushed an apology, waiting for Christa's harsh response that she was likely going to receive. The older woman narrowed her eyes for a second, but instead of snapping back she just waved the young girl off.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. You're just tired, we both are." Christa mumbled just loud enough for Clementine to hear. The eleven year old's eyes widened in surprise, as that was probably the nicest thing she had said to Clem since the incident over a year ago. The two rose to their feet, Christa tripping over the spear she had forgotten she had thrown up onto the platform previously. Clementine took hold of the other woman's hand, steading her. Christa grabbed her spear, and the two started walking again.

Christa was silent for the rest of the walk, her mind seemingly elsewhere as she limped just ahead of Clementine, who trailed along behind her, occasionally yawning and rubbing her drooping eyes. Christa was back to being hostile and closed off, but had softened up considerably since the events of earlier that morning, because she knew that Clementine had saved her life.

They reached another vast stretch of woods, and the two desperately hoped to find shelter soon.

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><p>It was around mid-afternoon, when the two came across a couple of abandoned tents, that looked as though they had been mostly ripped to shreds by walkers or scavengers that had passed by. Cans of food, whether or not they were empty was another thing, were littered around the place. There was a long since burnt out fire in the centre of the clearing in the woods, and the place looked as though it had been abandoned for some time.<p>

Both females were shivering from the damp clothes they were wearing, and they yearned for the heat of a fire, like the one they had set up hours before. Christa held out her spear in front of her, watching their surroundings in case of any sudden attacks. The place seemed deserted, but they could never be too sure about that.

"..Hello!?" Clementine called out loudly without thinking, Christa immediately spinning around and glaring at the younger girl for not being careful.

She exclaimed in a hushed tone, "Be quiet Clem, there could be something nearby!" Meaning walkers, or people like the ones they had come across before. Clementine bowed her head, once again feeling like she kept messing up.

"Sorry."

Christa returned her attention back to the empty area, her stance rigid as she was scanning the area for any threat. After a long pause, she began to search through some of discarded boxes, hoping to find something for them to eat or drink.

Clementine glanced around the place, her hands folding over her chest, "Looks pretty run over.. but you never know." Christa just jerked her head to the side, letting out a sigh full of disappointment as she tossed the empty cans she had found back into the boxes.

"We need to know that for sure." was Christa's response as she carried on searching for any useful items. The following silence was interrupted by Clementine's stomach rumbling, the young girl clutching her stomach. Christa added in a grumble, "Why don't you go over and check the tents for anything useful?"

Clem nodded, and headed over to a red tent that was pitched beside a green one. The younger girl inspected the shelter, which was practically torn to shreds. She muttered more to herself than Christa, "It's not much of a tent anymore. I bet scavengers tore it apart.." She grimaced at the thought of more men like the three earlier, hoping that people like them weren't going to pass by any time soon. There was nothing worth taking, so she made her way over to the green tent.

She knelt down, wincing as she heard the sound of more empty cans clattering onto the ground, the older woman behind her cursing under her breath. Clementine's eyes scanned the other tent, noting that it hadn't been torn as badly as the first. She spoke up a little louder this time, more so to Christa, "Think anyone's been sleeping in here? I can't tell."

The cursing from behind her stopped, and Christa replied with a shrug, glancing over. "I don't know. 'Doubt they do now, look at the state of this place."

She leant in to get a closer look, when a fierce growl startled the two of them, Clementine jumping back as a large dog leapt out at her from inside the green tent. Clem backed away, the dog baring it's teeth at her as it stalked forward. Christa limped over, stepping in-between the animal and Clem, her spear raised protectively.

"Don't hurt him!" She heard Clementine fret from behind her, Christa lowering the weapon hesistantly as the dog continued to growl. Clementine dusted herself off as she stood back up, and slowly reached forward to pat the dog on it's head.

"Be careful." Christa said as she eyed the dog up and down.

As soon as Clementine began to pat the dog, he stopped growling and his tail waggled instantly at the gentle affection. "It's okay boy, it's okay.." She whispered to the animal, who seemed to calm down at their presence. Clementine peered at the blue collar around his neck, "His name's Sam."

Christa huffed, "Well, we're not keeping him." She slowly limped her way over to a smashed up campervan, noticing a few boxes inside. She added sharply, "So don't get too attached." Clementine pouted miserably, but she had to agree that they shouldn't keep the dog. It seemed to be doing pretty well by itself, obviously finding food from somewhere, so maybe it would be fine left on it's own.

She spotted something bright in the corner of her eye, realising that it was a Frisbee. The young girl smiled widely as she bent down to retrieve it, holding it up in front of Sam and waving it playfully. "Wanna play catch?"

The dog barked excitedly, his tail waggling as his eyes locked onto the item she was holding. Christa glanced back over to them, "Shh, he might attract walkers." She turned back to the campervan, digging into another box of mostly junk.

"Go fetch, Sam!" Clementine encouraged him quietly, before throwing the Frisbee up into the air, the dog sprinting after it. He managed to jump and catch it in his mouth, before running back over to Clementine and dropping it at her feet. The dog sat down next to her, his dark beady eyes staring right up at her as his tail continued to waggle.

"Good boy." Clem praised the dog, who was waiting for another turn. But before Clementine could grab it again, she heard a muffled sob coming from the direction of the campervan. She followed over to where Christa was standing, and she seemed to be holding something out in front of her.

Clementine slowly came up behind the visibly upset woman, wondering what had upset her. She paused as she looked at the photo that Christa was holding, realising it was a photo of the family who owned the dog. The father in the picture was holding his daughter, who seemed to be laughing at the person taking the photo. The dog was perched at the man's feet, and the mother was smiling at the camera, and it also looked as though she was resting her hand on.. a baby bump.

Clementine swallowed thickly before placing her hand gently on Christa's arm, hoping to comfort her. The woman flinched away from the young girl, wiping her eyes as she passed Clem a bottle of water she had found, muttering emotionlessly, "Here." Clementine accepted the bottled water, her eyes still fixed on the photo.

"Thanks. It looks like they were a happy family once."

"Yeah.." Christa trailed off, dropping the slightly faded photo and staggering over to a nearby tree, sitting herself down and leaning against it heavily as she closed her eyes tightly. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she lowered her head in her lap, and Clementine decided it would be best to give her some space.

She twisted the lid off of the bottled water, eagerly tilting her head back as she took a long sip. It felt so good to drink something that was definitely clean, and she closed the lid back around the top of the bottle, twisting it on tightly and taking a moment to zip it up inside of her backpack. She would save the rest for her and Christa. Sam had been waiting beside the Frisbee for another turn, Clementine chuckled and took hold of it, the dog barking enthusiastically which caused Christa's head to immediately shoot up, her eyes full of irritation as she scanned the area once more, before lowering her head into her lap again.

Clementine smiled slightly at the excited dog, "Try to be a little quieter though," She knew that Sam would have no clue as to what she was saying, but she said it anyway. His tongue hung from his mouth as he barked happily, and the girl winced from the noise. She held the Frisbee out in front of her, throwing it. It landed further away this time, the dog having to leap after it.

He was praised by Clementine clapping, and he trotted back over to her with the toy between his teeth, his head raised in pride.

The young girl let out a small sigh, before speaking to the dog, "I bet you missed this, I sure do." Although she hadn't had a pet dog herself, she still vaguely remembered going to the park with her auntie and her jack russell called Dexter, and she would play fetch with him for hours on end. She missed those times dearly.

He dropped the Frisbee at her feet, and the girl lifted it up once again. "Let's go one more time. Go get it, boy!" But this time, she threw the Frisbee a lot harder than she meant to. It glided through the air, landing deep inside of a nearby bush. Sam chased after it, sniffing around as he tried to search for the toy.

The dog whined when he couldn't find it, his ears folding over as he trailed over to the bushes.

"Darn. It was good while it lasted though, right?" She began to feel tired again, and she cupped a hand over her mouth as she yawned. "Shouldn't waste the energy anyway. I hope there's some food for us around here." Before she could have a look for something to eat, Sam ran over to a tree not far away, growling at something by the side of it.

"What is it, boy?" Clementine asked with a frown as she made her way over, and he started to bark again, this time more fiercely. Clementine tried to shush him, "Shh! We have to be quiet!" The dog wouldn't back down, Christa slowly getting to her feet, her hand resting on the tree beside her as she pulled herself up. She followed over to the two of them, the pain in her leg was much worse than before as she bit down on her lip tightly so that she wouldn't cry out.

"What's going on?" Christa questioned wearily, standing beside the shorter female, her eyes widening as they both glanced down at the presumably dead man who was tied around the tree securely. He had some sort of knife in is shoulder, and his body looked as though it had been decaying for weeks.

Clementine assured, "It's okay.. he looks dead."

The other woman wasn't so sure, "It's better to be safe than sorry, Clementine."

"Yeah.. I know."

Clementine cautiously lowered to her knees beside Sam, Christa huffing as she watched closely in case the corpse made any signs of movement. The younger of the two focused on the man's shoulder, "Look, you can see the bite. Looks like he tried to cut it out.. But that never works. Ever." Her face saddened and Christa's heart ached for the little girl, knowing she was referring to Lee after she herself had cut his arm off, hoping it would save him from the bite. The woman sighed shortly, remembering Molly's stone-cold words back in Crawford, _In the end, the dead always win. _And so far, that had been the case.

One she had shook her head out of her thoughts, she registered what Clementine had also noticed. He was bitten! Christa grabbed the crouching girl by her shoulders, pulling her backwards and away from the rotting man. Clementine seemed to realise why, and got off of the ground slowly.

The dog barking grew louder and more insistant, and the two females turned back towards the tied up man. He was a walker, and his arms were clawing through the cold air, attempting to reach out and grab at them but to no avail. The walker began to grunt and groan, Sam still barking loudly.

Clementine glanced down at the dog, putting a finger on her lips, "It's okay, we're smart and he's not. We're smarter than all of them." Her gaze shifted back to the undead man, knowing that what she had said was one of the things that Lee had told her himself.

They both gazed at the walker with sad expressions, and Clementine piped up from where she was standing, "Think he tied himself up, or did someone force him to do this?"

Christa replied distantly, "Doesn't really matter. Either way, we should end it." The other girl nodded, her gaze landing on the knife that was dug deep into his decaying shoulder.

"That looks like it hurt." Clementine mumbled sadly, and reached down slowly, attempting to take the knife. The walker saw her advances, and groaned as he flailed his arms out at her. She backed away before he could grab onto her arm.

"Watch yourself!" Christa snapped, taking out the pistol from her pocket and aiming it and the walker's skull, preparing to shoot him.

The girl beside her spotted a large twig laying a few feet away, and grabbed hold of it, raising it up over her shoulder, "Let me use this." Christa's eyes flickered to the item Clementine had raised over her shoulder, and stepped backwards out of the way with a shrug.

"Stand back, okay?" Clementine instructed Sam, the dog cocking his head to the side, not understanding. She paused for a moment, grimacing as she slammed the large twig into the walker's skull with a sickening crack. The walker continued to groan and reach out, so she repeatedly hit him with the twig, piercing his skull after the fourth attempt, the walker slumping against the tree, unmoving.

The young girl panted as she dropped the twig to the ground, and Christa watched with an impressed look on her face. She quirked an eyebrow at Clem, her eyes travelled over to the man's shoulder once again, "That knife could come in handy."

Clementine reached back towards the silent walker, tugging at the knife that was buried deep into his skin, pulling it out in one swift motion. She wiped the blade which was dripping with blood onto her worn jeans, and then offered the small weapon to Christa, "It's still pretty sharp."

Christa shook her head, "You keep it. You're better with them than me." Clementine could almost make out the corners of Christa's lips begin to twitch into a smile, but the woman turned around fast, heading back over to the tree without another word. She collapsed back against it, her breath becoming short and sharp.

Clementine walked over, "Christa?" The woman was wincing as she groaned out quietly in pain, and the younger girl sat down beside her. The girl rested her hand over Christa's forehead, which was burning up. Clementine passed her the water from her backpack, handing it over to the injured woman.

Christa tilted her head back slowly, taking a small sip of the water and then spluttering, the young girl next to her putting the lid back on it and tossing it into her bag again. Christa kept pressure on her wound by pressing her hand over her jeans.

"Thanks Clem," The brunette wheezed as she tightened her grip over her wound.

The other female smiled and spoke gently, her eyes drifting down to where Christa's hand was resting, "Maybe we should take a look at it? Make sure it hasn't been infect-"

That caused Christa to flinch, remembering the time when Omid had gotten an infection in his leg back in Savannah. She cut off Clementine miserably, "No. It's not too bad, I just need to sit down for a while. Why don't you check the food container over there, maybe there's some stuff in it still."

Clementine rose without complaint, and wandered over to a blue container. Sam was laying back inside his tent, his ears pricked up as his eyes watched Clementine hopefully, wanting to play Frisbee. The girl sighed, "I'll find it later, Sam." as she knelt down beside the cooler, lifting up the lid. She regretted it almost immediately as a foul-smelling odour emitted from inside, slamming the lid back shut tightly.

"Ugh! God!" She spluttered as she felt the urge to throw up, "I am SO sick of that smell." coughing in disgust, she backed away from the container full of rotting food.

Christa raised her head towards Clem from where she sat beside the tree, "Anything?"

"No.." The girl replied, her hazel eyes now looking towards a trash barrel. Christa frowned as her eyes followed Clementine's gaze. "Gotta check everywhere.." She added as she reluctantly moved towards it, rolling up her sleeves as she tried to block out the foul smell that was still wafting through the air.

Flies buzzed above the trashcan, and Clementine sighed as she scrunched up her nose, "Well.. here we go.." She glanced down at the rubbish, slowly lowering her hands into the filthy barrel. She rummaged around, and grinned as she lifted out a can of what looked to be peaches. She closed her eyes tightly, clutching the can to her chest, "Oh my god.. thank you!" Her voice was cheerful as she made her way back to Christa, holding up the can with a smile.

Christa took hold of the can, her eyes lighting up as she shook it, the contents shaking inside. "Looks like we won't starve tonight." She muttered before giving Clementine a grateful smile, adding, "Why don't you go ahead and open it with that knife of yours? It'll be good practise in case.. something happens to me." She was off again, into one of her moods. The older woman was suffering with depression from the loss of her boyfriend and baby, and Clementine hoped that she would overcome it soon.

The young girl nodded, and sat herself down, crossing her legs as the can was passed back to her. Sam trotted over, his tail once again waggling as drool dripped down from his tongue as his eyes focused on the item in her hands. Clementine chuckled quietly, "It's okay Sam, you can have some too."

The dog barked in response.

"Only a little, Clem. That stuff has to last us some time.." Christa advised as she let out a groan of pain, the young girl looking over at her sympathetically, her eyes wide with worry. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, although the blood had soaked right through the back of her jeans. It really needed to be disinfected soon, who knows what might've gotten into it.

Clementine grabbed hold of the knife she had pocketed, and rested it against the metal lid of the can. She punctured a hole into the lid, dragging the sharp blade across the metal as it opened easily enough. The girl let out a relieved sigh. "Thank god.." She scooped a small handful into her mouth hungrily, the soft juicy texture making her mouth water. They tasted so good. She handed the can to Christa who had been watching her eagerly, scooping herself a handful into her mouth and savouring the flavour in her mouth as she closed her eyes in appreciation.

She took one more handful, before offering the can back to Clementine. The dog's tail drooped as he whined impatiently, causing the females to smirk. The young girl grabbed a couple of peach slices, throwing them over to Sam who chomped them within seconds. She threw him a slightly bigger handful, mumbling, "That's enough now, you can have some more tomorrow." Sam lowered his head and padded back over to his tent after he realised he wouldn't be getting anymore.

Christa spoke up, "We should try to get some sleep,"

"Okay," Clementine yawned as she settled down beside the injured woman who looked as though her skin was paling slightly. Clem's fatigued body welcomed the position as she curled up at the bottom of the tree. Christa laid down close to the young girl, watching as Clementine's eyes slowly but surely closed as she began to drift off to sleep. The older woman sighed sadly as she looked up at the sky.

"I wish you were here, Omid.. I don't think I can do this.."

Her eyes squeezed shut as she felt tears stream down her face. "I can't take care of Clementine alone, I need you here." She shivered as the cold air hit her body, and drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - I apologise for the long break between chapters, I've written about seven more but haven't had the time to check them and update. Exams coming up after Easter, So I will try and update as much as I can before then. :)

Also, as you should know by now, I do not own TWDG or any of the characters in this story unless I say so.

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><p><span>Chapter Three - New Faces<span>

About an hour later, Clementine was abruptly woken by the sound of Sam's barking, the girl slowly getting to her feet and rubbing her eyes as she stretched her arms. She glanced down at Christa, who seemed to still be asleep, her back facing Clem. She began to head over to where the dog was, her voice hushed.

"Shh! Sam, it's okay.. but you have to be quiet!"

The dog didn't quieten down, continuing to growl as his eyes were on something through the bushes. Clementine gasped as she heard the familiar groaning of walkers, and swore under her breath. She called out to Sam urgently, "Please Sam, stop!" But he wouldn't back down from the incoming walkers who were staggering through the bushes around them, their eyes locked onto both the dog and her hungrily.

Turning around, she ran back over to the tree she had recently been sleeping against, getting to her knees and shaking the sleeping woman's shoulder firmly, trying to rouse her. After getting no response, Clementine pleaded desperately as she heard the walkers rustling through the bushes, "Christa, wake up!"

She was answered with silence, apart from the growling of the dog who was slowly backing away from the walkers, and the groans were getting louder and closer. Thinking quickly, she grabbed hold of Christa's waist, pulling the woman to her feet. Christa automatically slumped against her, unconscious. Clementine could see the fresh blood that had been pooling around where she had been sleeping.

"Shit!" She cried as she slung Christa's arm around her neck, and then began to tug the woman away from the slowly approaching walkers. She glanced back one last time, noticing that she had left the unconscious woman's spear behind, and also that Sam was nowhere to be seen. Clementine could hear Christa's ragged and uneven breathing, and it spurred her on as she picked up the pace.

Managing to carry on in a quick pace, her body beginning to ache as the weight of Christa started to weigh her down, Clementine panting as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was now wandering aimlessly with an unconscious woman sagged against her, not having any idea where she should be going. She dragged her feet onwards, the suddenly eerily quiet atmosphere closing in around her as she peered around, the forest seeming to go on forever.

She paused for a moment, looking around every direction, not seeing any clearing or any signs of an abandoned building around. She clung onto Christa as her eyes fluttered closed, and she began to let out frightened sobs. She was all alone with her friend who was likely going to die if she didn't get treated soon. Giving up all hope of getting them out of the woods alive, she stumbled towards some rocks that were ahead of her.

"S-stay with me.." She stuttered to Christa who was unresponsive.

Clementine lowered the unconscious woman to the ground, leaning her against one of the rocks. She slumped down beside her, carefully removing Christa's hoodie from around her and wrapping it tightly around the wound on her leg, now hoping that it would slow down or stop the bleeding, but also hoping that she wouldn't catch hypothermia without wearing the extra layer of clothing. The young girl curled up against Christa, wrapping her arms around herself as she whimpered quietly. She felt her tiredness return, and her vision blurred as she began to fall asleep.

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><p>*Moments later*<p>

She heard the noise of more walkers, this time closer than they'd been before, and shook herself out of her sleepy daze. She slowly turned to look up over her shoulder, realising that a walker was heading straight for the two of them. She pulled herself to her feet, her arm curling back around the older woman's body as she tugged her gently to her feet, and of course her unmoving body sagged back against the younger girl. She knew she didn't have much of a chance of getting away with Christa leaning heavily against her, but she was not going to leave her to die without trying.

"We're going to do this.. We will.." Clementine panted for breath as she shifted Christa so that she was hanging over her shoulder, making it easier for the eleven year old to move faster. The moans of the walker behind them were getting a lot louder, and she couldn't find the energy to pick up her speed as the walker approached her rapidly.

It grabbed hold of her arm, and she fell to the ground with a thud, Christa also collapsing onto the damp grass below them. The walker lunged towards the unconscious woman, Clementine shrieking, "NO!" as she kicked out, sending the walker to the ground a few feet away. It recovered faster than she could get up, and crawled towards her, climbing on top of her small body and thrashing and snapping it's jaw right into her face.

Clementine struggled to push it off of her, her heart thudding against her chest as she thought; _This is the end for me._ She attempted to hold it away from her face, but the walker was a fully grown adult, and a lot more stronger than she was. Suddenly, she heard the sound of what sounded to be a knife of some description slicing into a skull, and the walker that was attacking her collapsed against her body, dead.

She gazed up, her eyes focusing on two men. One looked to be in his twenties, and had pulled the now dead walker off of the her, and then kneeling down between the two females, eyes wide with concern. The other man, looked a lot older, raised his crossbow at the small gathering of walkers that were soon upon them. One of the walkers was about to grab onto the younger man from behind, but before Clementine could warn him the other male had shot an arrow right into it's brain.

Wincing, she got to her feet, watching as the younger man lifted Christa into his arms. The older of the two continued to fire arrows into the walkers heads. He fired once more before saying to the other, "I'm out! Let's get them outta here!"

The one who was carrying Christa turned to Clem, saying urgently, "Come on Kid, you guys will be safe with us!" Clementine didn't even hesitate, and followed them as they took off into a direction through the woods. After all, they had saved their lives back then, so they were some-what trustworthy.

They carried on sprinting until they ran out of energy, the three of them panting for breath as they slowed down to a hault. The older man who had a balding head and a dark stubbly beard wheezed as he clutched his chest from running, "I think.. I think we're safe." He straightened up, both of the men glancing behind them, satisfied that they couldn't see any walkers coming after them.

"Yeah.. yeah, we're good." The younger one with a stronger accent replied breathlessly. They peered down at Clementine, who was looking up at them with wide and pleading eyes.

She mumbled, "Please, please can you help her? She's been-" As soon as the other two males heard that, the younger of the two loosened his grip on the limp woman in his arms, about to drop her.

"She's been bit? Why didn't you tell us!" The brunette man spoke up angrily as he glanced down at the woman in his arms as if she was going to suddenly reanimate and bite a chunk out of his neck.

Clementine immediately stepped forward, shaking her head quickly, "No, no, no! She's not bitten! We got attacked, and she was wounded! It's not a bite, I promise!" The man holding her still didn't seem convinced, and he lowered the woman to the ground, Clementine rushing towards her and kneeling down beside her worriedly.

"Attacked by what? A Lurker?" The same man narrowed his eyes, and the other placed his hands on his hips, speaking up to the man above them.

"Just calm down, and let the girl explain." His voice was gruff and irritated, but he smiled warmly down at Clementine. The young girl looked up at him, and cleared her throat.

She recalled, "We were cooking some sort of weasel, when she went off to go and get some more wood for the fire. After a little while I heard shouting, and I saw that she had been surrounded by three bandits, they were pointing guns at her. I distracted them, and she tried to get away, but one of the men grabbed her and stabbed her in the back of the leg with a spear. I killed them, and-"

The brunette man scoffed, "You killed three armed men all on your own? I doubt it."

The other man glowered at him, but his eyes widened considerably, "Did these folks mention what they were after?"

"They might've just wanted the food we were cooking.."

Interested, the younger man questioned with slight urgency, "They didn't mention any names, right? They weren't searching for anybody?" Clementine kept quiet, because she really didn't know.

"Hmm," The balding man quirked an eyebrow before resting a concerned gaze on Christa. He asked, "Are you both on your own?"

Clementine sighed as she answered him, "Yeah, there were others.. but.. the two of us have been together for a while now," The other man nodded in response, rubbing his beard.

The younger man ran a hand through his hair as he started pacing, "We can't just believe her like that, what if the woman is bitten?" He shook his head as he gazed down at the unconscious woman with suspicion.

With saddened eyes, Clementine begged, "She isn't! Please, just look at it.. but she needs help, fast. Otherwise she might not make it!"

Sighing, the calmer of the two men knelt down beside Clementine and Christa. He reached towards the hoodie on the injured woman's leg, when Luke stopped him, protesting, "Woah, woah! What if she wakes up and sinks her teeth into my friend's neck?"

Clementine urged, "She won't." She placed her hand on Christa's chest, and felt relief as she could feel the woman's heart beating slowly against her palm.

Folding his arms, the older man looked Clementine dead in the eyes for any signs of untruthfulness. "Hmm, all right." He muttered as he reached out again.

"Watch yourself." The pacing man warned as the other gently unwrapped the item of clothing from around Christa's right leg. Blood had soaked the hoodie, the man passing it to Clementine as he slowly began to roll her jeans up, the blood trailing down her leg. His eyes widened as he inspected the wound, it was like a puncture, it was deep and oozing with fresh blood. The younger man asked from behind him, "Is it a lurker bite?"

He shook his head as he rolled the jeans back down, "No, it's not. She was telling the truth, now let's get them both to Carlos." His voice was firm, and Clementine thanked him.

The brunette hesitantly lifted Christa back into his arms. The three of them carried on walking, Clementine following the two to wherever they were taking them. After a few minutes of silence, the younger man introduced them, "Well.. I'm Luke, and this's Pete."

Pete smiled friendly, "Hey there." Clementine smiled back. He was nice enough, and the other wasn't so bad after he had gotten over the fact that Christa wasn't bitten.

"Hi, I'm Clementine." She replied as they continued to walk on, and her eyes lingered on her friend's unconscious form. "And her name is Christa."

Luke smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Clementine. Your mom's going to be fine, Carlos will do a good job of fixing her up." Clementine froze up and she visibly saddened, her shoulders sagging as she thought about her deceased parents.

She trembled, her voice beginning to crack, "Sh-She's not my mom." The two men glanced at each other for a split second, and Luke cursed under his breath.

He apologised, "I'm sorry for assuming that, Kiddo. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know, It's okay." Clementine answered blatantly as she tried to shake the painful memories of seeing her parents' as walkers to the back of her mind. She rolled her lips into a thin smile, and continued, "The two of us met a few months after this all started." She wasn't going to say anything more than she had to, because she didn't want to be reminded of one person in particular who had saved her life on numerous occasions, also teaching her on how to survive in a world like this. She was fairly certain she would have died if he hadn't of been there for her back then.

Clementine watched as Christa began to stir in Luke's arms, startled, they prepared for the worst. But the woman began to cough and splutter, her eyes fluttering open groggily as she came to her senses, her hand rubbing against her forehead as she winced from the pain.

"Christa!" Clementine breathed out in amazement, and the woman's eyes locked onto the young girl, before she realised that she was being carried by some stranger. She struggled to get free, Luke hissing as she dug her nails into his arm.

"Hey, hey, hey lady! We're not going to hurt you, we're taking you to a doctor!" Luke reassured her as she glared up at him darkly, not trusting him one little bit. She looked over at Pete who was watching her with raised eyebrows.

"How can we fucking trust you? Who the heck are you people? Why are we here?" Christa spat out as she continued to get out of his strong grip, but her body was weak from blood loss, so she couldn't manage it. The men looked down at her, clearly surprised that she was acting this way.

Pete spoke up calmly, "It's alright, just relax. Me and my friend here came to Clementine's rescue, she was getting attacked by lurkers and you were beside her unconscious. We can help you, our people have supplies that can treat your wound." Christa's eyes widened as she felt a lump form in her throat. Had that really happened? She stopped struggling as she flopped her arms to her sides.

Her gaze shifted back to Clementine, and she mumbled, "Are you hurt?"

Clementine shook her head, "No, I'm fine. But these men are going to help you, please just trust them-"

Christa cut her off, her eyes narrowing, "You know why we can't trust people anymore, Clem. I'm sorry but we need to leave, now."

The young girl looked down at the ground, wishing that Christa would for once believe that not everyone is out to hurt them. She was about to say something when Pete chipped in, "We are only offering help. Our cabin is just a few miles ahead, and we have a skilled doctor who will be able to sort you out. You can have something to eat too, we've got plenty. You two look like you could do with a good meal."

Clementine closed her eyes for a moment, as she thought about the hot food they might receive tonight. She whispered to the injured woman, "Please Christa, we need the food, and you need your leg stitched up."

Christa narrowed her eyes, thinking before she grumbled a response to the older man, "Fine. But I'm only agreeing to this for Clementine, she hasn't had a decent meal for a while. If I find out you are lying to us, you won't be getting away." Pete nodded his head, but smiled unfazed at the angered woman as they continued towards the direction of the cabin. She then snapped at Luke who was still carrying her, "Put me down, I know how to walk." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm.

The brunette man huffed, "I don't think you're in any shape to be walking, not with that leg the way it is."

"Put me the fuck down!" Christa demanded harsher this time, and Luke sighed as he slowly lowered her to her feet.

The younger man shrugged his shoulders as he began to move on ahead, Pete offering Clementine a small nod before following after him. Clementine stayed at Christa's side, and she watched as the older woman began to sway, so she grabbed hold of her slim wrist quickly, helping her stay upright.

As she held onto Christa's wrist, she could feel the woman shivering violently, although the sun was out and the breeze wasn't that cold any more. She passed the woman beside her the bloodied hoodie, Christa accepting it and fumbled to pull it over her vest top, her exhausted body beginning to get weaker as she zipped it up.

Clementine was about to lead them towards the men, but felt Christa grip hold of her arm tightly as she groaned in pain as her injured leg buckled beneath her.

"I don't.." Christa croaked out, and her vision began to blacken. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she slipped back into unconsciousness, falling to her knees as she sprawled onto the floor in seconds. Clementine dropped down beside her, the two men ahead looking over their shoulders' back at the two females, and rushed back over to them.

Luke got to them first, once again lifting the unconscious woman into his arms as he let out a grunt. He smiled softly at Clem, and Pete placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, reassuring her, "She'll be all right, you have my word." Clementine nodded as she got back up to her feet, her eyes worriedly watching Christa who slumped in Luke's arms, out cold. They carried on their way, the sun just starting to set over the hillside.


End file.
